The Vilamoura Golf Resort is an incredibly popular getaway on Portugal's Algarve Coast, the resort/residential development with five distinctive and contrasting golf courses that each average between 45,000 and 65,000 rounds per year. Strangely, and sadly, none of the golf here reaches world-class heights, the Palmer signature course is the most eye-catching but is fairly typical of many resort courses around the world.

The most famous course at Vilamoura is the Old Course, designed by Frank Pennink and opened in 1969. The Old Course is cut through a gently undulating pine forest, the trees here having grown substantially since opening and now making it a somewhat awkward driving course. While closing holes like the 16th and 17th are pretty effective, Vilamoura Old lacks genuine world-class holes and is a layout best described as enjoyable to play without reaching any great architectural heights.

Were there more top-quality courses in the Algarve region, Vilamoura Old wouldn't come quite as highly recommended.